National Parks (Nemzeti parkok)

Ten national parks, as government organisations, are responsible for the systematic preservation of the natural heritage throughout Hungary. Many of the strictly protected areas are listed as World Heritage Sites. Some parks are contiguous, others non-contiguous, mosaic-like. The national parks in the order of their creation:

Hortobágy National Park (Hortobágyi Nemzeti Park) (created in 1973)
The Hortobágy National Park is Europe's largest alkaline plain; it covers 81,000 hectares. The rich traditions of extensive farming and those ancient domestic animals which shaped the landscape are still found in the park. The alkaline wetlands and the flora and fauna of the 5,000-hectare fishing lake system of the National Park enjoy strict protection. The plains of Hortobágy have been listed as part of the World Heritage since 1999.

Kiskunság National Park (Kiskunsági Nemzeti Park) (created in 1975)
In the Kiskunság National Park a symbiosis of the natural and ethnographical treasures can be observed. Of the 48,000-hectare park, 23,000 hectares are designated a biosphere reserve. The two large fishing lake systems, the White Lake (Fehér-tó) and Lake Csaj (Csaj-tó), are famous from their bird life; the most significant resting and feeding places for migratory birds in the South Great Plains (Dél-Alföld) are here. Amongst the landscape protection areas (tájvédelmi körzet) in the national park is the Mártély Tisza bank; protected since 1971, it is a popular artist workplace.

Bükk National Park (Bükki Nemzeti Park) (created in 1976)
The Bükk National Park is the largest forested, highlands national park in Hungary. Within its varied habitats, a particularly rich flora can be observed and there are around 22,000 animal species found here. The assets under protection are the geological, geomorphological, and speleological heritage: 853 caves have been discovered in the Bükk, 45 of which are strictly protected.
Of the numerous archaeological sites here the most valuable are those caves which were once inhabited by prehistoric man. Of the total 43,000-hectare park, 5,730 hectares are strictly protected.

Aggtelek National Park (Aggteleki Nemzeti Park) (created in 1985)     
Situated in the Aggtelek Karst(Aggteleki-karszt), the more than 20,000-hectare Aggtelek National Park protects a unique natural heritage. The most well known is the cave system which, together with its Slovakian Karst caves, has been listed as a World Heritage Site since 1995. Over and above the protection of the flora and fauna, the national park is charged with sustaining the whole landscape, including the protection of local architecture and object culture, the protection of features and architecture shaping the landscape, as well as the conservation of archaeological, cultural and industrial heritage.

Fertő-Hanság National Park (Fertő-Hanság Nemzeti Park) (created in 1991)
The Fertő-Hanság National Park situated on the border of Hungary and Austria is dedicated to protection of the fauna, flora, landscape, ethnological, and cultural history values of this once vast swamp and marshland. The 9,500 hectares of the Austrian counterpart (Nationalpark Neusiedler See-Seewinkel, founded in 1992) was linked with the 23,587 hectares of the Hungarian park area in 1994. Lake Fertő (Neusiedler See) and its surrounding area is listed as a part of the World Heritage.

Duna-Dráva National Park (Duna-Dráva Nemzeti Park) (created in 1996) The Duna-Dráva National Park encompasses a contiguous 49,478 hectares of the South Transdanubian Region (Dél-Duanántúl). The following particularly valuable habitats were marked out for special protection: rivers, their branch systems and natural assets; ground level and underground water resources; and the forests, agricultural land and the renewable natural resources.

The Upper Balaton National Park (Balaton-felvidéki Nemzeti Park) (created in 1997)
The Upper Balaton (Balaton-felvidék) National Park runs west from the northern shore of Late Balaton in an increasingly wide strip to the Small Balaton (Kis-Balaton) region. Totalling 56,997 hectares, 10,471 hectares are strictly protected. The regions of the park are: the Tihany Peninsula, Pécsely Basin, Káli Basin, Tapolca Basin and the remnant hills, the Keszthelyi Hills and the Kis-Balaton in Zala and Somogy Counties, as well as the entire Balaton shoreline and the Balaton bays.

Duna-Ipoly National Park (Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti Park) (created in 1997)
The Duna-Ipoly National Park is north of Budapest. It encompasses the majority of the Pilis and Börzsöny Hills and lies between the Rivers Danube and Ipoly. The uniqueness of this over 60,000-hectare area lies in its river valleys at the meeting of the hills and the plains. Its most beautiful area is the Danube Bend (Dunakanyar) between the Börzsöny and the Visegrád Hills, the scene of the stream breaking through the hills over many thousand years. The numerous islands of various sizes of the Danube between Esztergom and Budapest also belong to the National Park.

Kőrös-Maros National Park (Kőrös-Maros Nemzeti Park) (created in 1997)
The Körös-Maros National Park extends from the foot of the Romanian mountains to the River Tisza. The National Park exists to protect the remaining assets of this unique landscape. Most of these assets are connected in some way to the water; the river systems of the Rivers Körös and Maros, and the floodplain forests, the wetland areas around Sárrét. In this 51,125-hectare National Park the water habitats of White Lake (Fehér-tó) at Kardoskút and the fishing lakes at Biharugra which are important for migrating birds are also internationally significant; this region comes under the ruling of the Ramsar Agreement.

Őrség National Park (Őrségi Nemzeti Park) (created in 2002)
The Őrség National Park developed out of the Őrség Land Protection Area created in 1978 and other undisturbed areas in the region. Of the 43,933-hectare National Park 3,104 hectares are strictly protected. In Hungary's most western region folk traditions and customs remain unchanged to this day.